Corndog Asylum

Your opinion is not my opinion and therefore it sucks.

This is part of the problem with how a lot of people approach interacting with others. There is no allowance for people that think differently than you.

I mean -- obviously, if people don't think exactly like you, then there's something wrong with them, right?

There's a few things that really push my irritation buttons, one of which is people stating their opinions as fact. The related annoyance to this is people thinking that everyone feels like they do, or that they should. That you, personally, get to decide what people are allowed to like. Or what people are allowed to feel or think about a particular subject.

For example, I'm pretty deep into the hobby of building mechanical computer keyboards, customizing them, and I like collecting keyboards that are examples of different types of design, layouts, mounting styles, etc.

I watch a fair amount of streamers on Twitch that are also into this hobby and do builds of keyboards live on-stream. And the vast majority of people in the community that join in on those streams, or conduct the streams themselves are the types that recognize that what is 'good' is a matter of preference. They get that one keyboard, or how a keyboard is built, or how it looks with a particular keycap set is entirely up to each individual. That what they might like may not be what others like and that is perfectly ok and normal.

But of course, just like with any other aspect of life, there are some people that like to shit on things. That like to say that particular keyboard suck ass, or some other derogatory statement. And ok, that's fine. You think something sucks. We get it. But often times these people will have no allowance for others to feel differently. That you are wrong for liking something they don't -- your opinion on this is wrong, and you're a fucking doofus for even daring to think differently than they do.

Then there are the more subtle versions of this where someone claims something to the effect of this thing is better than that thing, and present this as just the way it is. As a fact. A recent example for me is a particular keyboard streamer (not naming, don't ask) claims that one particular method of building keyboards sounds better than this other method. I immediately thought that was bullshit because they were mentioning two different methods that honestly can't affect sound to any significant degree.

So maybe they have better hearing than me? Entirely possible, the person in question is much younger than I am, and I know my hearing isn't what it was in my more youthful days. But just to declare one as better -- period -- is honestly pretty egotistical. Like how did you get appointed to the position of deciding what sounds better for everyone in existence?

I grew up listening to a lot of heavy metal, industrial music, and various angry electronica. The crowds I hung out with quite often bashed on people for being into 'lame music' like pop or whatever was the top 40 at the time. The term 'guilty pleasure' was thrown around sometimes. It basically meant any music that you were embarrassed to like, or that if was revealed that you liked it, you stood a pretty good chance of catching shit for it. And back then, if you were male, god forbid you liked something that wasn't considered 'masculine'. I mean, if you dared to like ABBA or any disco, you were in danger of being labelled gay. Ahh yesss, the 'good ole days'.

All that nonsense of not being allowed to like particular genres, or certain music being 'gay' always irritated me to no end. The whole idea of a 'guilty pleasure' when it comes to music always felt like bullshit. Why should you feel guilty for liking some particular song or genre of music. I hated people that relentlessly bashed others for not being cool just because they didn't listen to what they did.

"You aren't ok unless you think exactly like me."

This is the kind of intolerant bullshit that some people just can't get past and that has sunk deep into politics and a lot of aspects of today's culture.

I pride myself on being open to differing view points. If you can make a decent argument for your perspective on a particular subject, then great. Bring it to the discussion, I'll almost always listen and consider (ok maybe not if I'm three sheets to the wind...I sometimes get a little--ok a lot--snarky).

That's not to say that I'm always about hearing 'both sides' of every subject if for example the debate is about denying someone's right to exist. Or if the argument is that someone's belief in a particular religion entitles them to oppress others in some way.

Live and let live is really what my point boils down to. And if you think other people's lifestyle is gross or blasphemy, etc, keep it to your damn self. So many people think government should mind their own business and stay out of their lives, but somehow seem perfectly ok with imposing their beliefs on others. Few things are worse in my book than hypocrisy.

I recently came across some posts on Instagram from someone that apparently had upset someone, had apologized and promised to work to do better, but yet still had people calling for them to de-platform.

I couldn't find any info about what exactly the original offense was, nor could anyone else that was responding. One person suggested that even asking about what was done was white supremacism because it asked the offended to do emotional labor or some such.

Another implied that the whole community of black, indigenous and people of color (often abbreviated as BIPOC) was offended. As if they spoke for every single non-white person on the planet.

Another person demanded they delete their account because they used the term BIPOC and they were offended because the 'default isn't white'. Again, assuming the reins for the whole community. Some people of color it seems are fine with this term, some appear to be offended.

One person even tried to call out a black person for coopting AAVE (African American Vernacular English) terms. Aside from the obvious hilarity at calling out a black person for using their own language, I couldn't for the life of me even discern what exactly that person had said that was AAVE, it just seemed like everyday use of language to me.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. It seems more and more that in today's world some people are just looking to find something to be offended about, and that no matter how kind and compassionate, no matter how willing you are to recognize systems of inequality that still exist in American life, that there are people that want to find something wrong with you and cancel you.

And to suggest that even asking what someone did wrong is somehow racist just furthers my point. How is anyone to improve if they can't find out what they did wrong?

Everyone has flaws. Everyone has done something they weren't proud of in their life. The people that are trying to move forward and improve how they behave should be praised for doing so -- not condemned for eternity for a single slip up. If that person acknowledges the mistake(s) they've made, and has lived a better life from then on out, who are we, as fellow flawed people to continue to demand punishment?

Just to be clear, I'm not talking about not punishing criminal activity. Of course you should face the penalties for unlawful actions. But this country also has a bad habit of continuing to punish people who have done their time in incarceration. Which is essentially the same thing as a forever cancellation. How are ex-cons supposed to turn their life around if hardly anyone will forgive and hire them?

Perfection is unobtainable. We need people that can mature and learn from their mistakes. We need to show compassion for people that are struggling to learn and do better.

Do the people calling for de-platforming/cancellation/punishment expect for that person to never be in public again? To not ever have a job again? To just go off and die? That's a compassionless answer, and one that doesn't allow for forgiveness and growth of our culture.

If we cancel everyone that has made a mistake in their life, we will eventually cancel everyone.

So apparently Apple is reducing their advertising on Twitter, enough to piss off The Musker. Elon's response was to suggest that Apple doesn't like free speech.

Really?

Here's some free speech for you: Go fuck yourself, Mr. Musk.

So essentially, if you're a company that pays for advertising, you better choose to pay Twitter to advertise, or else you are against freedom of speech. So, at the heart of it, he's only for companies freedoms when it's making him money.

What an entitled shitbag.

I mean imagine the ego that suggests that you companies are only allowed to exercise a constitutional right if I think it's ok. The only reason people listen to this douchebag with hairplugs is he has an obscene amount of wealth.

And now he's saying if Apple & Google ban Twitter from their app stores because it's violating their terms of service, that he'll build his own phone. LMFAO.

It's getting pretty humorous that this dickhead with billions got his fragile little sense of self worth challenged by randos on a social network, decides to buy it, realizes he's made a mistake but can't back out of it, pisses off most of the advertisers by letting racist & hateful shitbirds back on the network, then might have to sink billions more into the development of a phone because he's so ruined the social network that he bought, that the other phone manufacturers think it's too fucked for their devices.f

I recently saw a post on Twitter that was an ad for a newsletter called TLDR. The content is specifically not about politics or sports. I’ve been signed up for it now for a couple of months. It covers a lot of tech-related news, some science articles, and a lot of developer news about various utilities, along with links to Github for some things. I’ve enjoyed the content so far, and have actually gotten some use out of a few of the GIthub links.

Of course, in the comments on the Twitter post, there had to be some people who are calling it trash, or some how blaming it for not covering politics, like if it’s not covering left wing politics, then it’s right wing garbage. And the people complaining about it and calling it trash of course haven’t signed up for it and have absolutely no idea of the content. And yet somehow IT’S BAD AND MUST BE SMASHED.

One person was like “Stop advertising on this platform!”, as if he gets to determine what is allowed for everyone else. Some people are just so fucking entitled.

Someone actually said it’s impossible to separate politics from tech news. What kind of insanity is that?!? I mean, they list links to Github projects for fuck sake.

Like imagine: Newsletter: “Click this link to check out a new command line utility” Inane response: “YOU ASSHOLES!!! HOW DOES THAT RESOLVE RACIAL DISPARITY!?!”

I don’t get it. Some people seem to need to find offense at everything. It’s a fucking newsletter, you don’t have to sign the fuck up if you don’t want to. No one is forcing this content down your throat.

And how the fuck can you call something trash when you don’t even know what it is about?!?

I used to think it was just right wing nut jobs that were the intellectually challenged bunch, but these days, left wing mobs are acting just as irrationally.

Cheers, Corny

Welcome to Corndog Asylum! My name is ::redacted:: -- I wish to remain anonymous, but you can call me Corny. I will be posting thoughts about various topics in the time to come. Not sure about schedule yet, but hopefully with some regularity.

Cheers! Corny